1 John 5:1–5 (ESV)
Overcoming the World
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we
know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For
everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
The children of God bear the family traits of their Brother, Jesus. He has faith, love, and victory over the world. The world tempts us to think of our Lord’s Commandments as a burden,
too hard and too heavy for us to bear. The world seems too much for us to overcome. But our Lord Jesus has overcome the world for us. He has fulfilled all of God’s Commandments for us. He made Himself our human Brother, that through Him we might become
the children of His Father and share in His great family of love.
I PRAY: Father, let me live in Your love through believing that Jesus is the Christ, the divine Son
of God. Amen.
Edward A. Engelbrecht, The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 2180.